Dance With Me, Make Me Sway
by AccioxMagic
Summary: Ted Tonks does not dance, but Andromeda Black never takes "no" for an answer, which is how he finds himself wrapped in her arms and moving across the floor with her… until their dance lesson turns into something more. [Could be considered a sequel to "Progress", but can also be read as a One-Shot!]


The candle light flickered, each drop of hot marking the passage of time. They had been talking for hours, their studies completely forgotten. Ted had made a half-hearted attempt to keep them on the subject on Transfiguration, but had relented easily and quickly. Gone were the days of cold politeness, grudgingly growing into something closer to friendliness, and before either one of them could realize it, they had become close friends. Andromeda initiated conversations with him; Ted no longer had to pry them from her lips. They were freely given. Once she'd relaxed around him, Andromeda found that her spellwork improved dramatically. Professor McGonagall would have been pleased. That is, if Andromeda performed as well in class as she did in the tiny classroom she shared with Ted, which she did not. Already they had become secret keepers, and Ted would have been lying if he said he wasn't enjoying every single minute of it.

Andromeda laughed heartily, and Ted found himself smiling despite himself. Her laugh would always make him smile, he simply couldn't help himself.

"What do you mean you can't dance?" Andromeda questioned, her tone making it clear she didn't believe him.

Ted grimaced slightly and rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I can not dance."

Andromeda snorted, a sound that would certainly give her mother a heart attack had she heard it. Daughters of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black did not make sounds so rude. A sneer of derision would have done just as well, as respectable ladies were to be seen, but not heard.

"Don't be silly, Ted." She waved a hand at him. "Of course you can dance. Everyone can dance."

His eyes widened when she stood abruptly from the couch opposite him. She hurried over to him and held her hand out for him to take. He looked at it skeptically, raising an eyebrow at her. "I promise you, Andromeda. I can't. You don't want to see me try. Hell, I don't want to see me try. It's an embarrassment better left unseen. Trust me."

Andromeda smiled deviously at him, looking down at him in something he swore was amusement. "I do, Ted. I really do. Now," her voice turned stern, a glint of absolute amusement still in her eyes, "get your sorry arse up and dance with me!" She snatched up his hand and began to pull at him until he had no choice but to stand.

"I- Andy- No!" Ted stuttered. "Please, really, this is a-"

"Shut up, Tonks," Andromeda snapped. She led him to the other side of the room, stopping once they had nearly a meter and a half clear around them each way they turned. "Now," she began, "put your arm… there." She pulled his left arm around to her waist so his hand rested right around her hipbone. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing dramatically.

This wasn't going to end well.

Bruised toes and egos were surely in his future. Despite the nearly undeniable possibility of him making a fool out of himself, he couldn't help but take enjoyment from this. He'd never been this close to her, and he would suffer the consequences for it when they came. He allowed her to position his body as if each touch wasn't sending his nerve endings into shock.

He stood, frozen, trying not to let her see how her touch affected him. She laughed at Ted's stoic expression, her smile reaching her entire face, lighting up her eyes even more than they'd been before. "I'm not about to kill you Ted," she teased, "you can relax a bit, you know."

"Sure thing." Even to his own ears, he didn't sound convincing.

She cocked her head up at him and he looked down at her through his lashes. Their proximity was doing funny things to his thoughts. Besides a hug here or there they had never really had a reason to be so close to one another, let alone for their hands to be holding, or for each of them to be holding the other's waist. There had certainly **never** been any waist holding, he thought dizzily.

Breathe, Ted reminded himself. Breathe.

Before he could contemplate it any further, Andromeda started spouting instructions and he found he needed to really concentrate to follow them.

Forward, right, back, left, forward. Ted shook his head. Something like that. "Er, don't we need music?" He looked at her skeptically.

"Nope." She said simply. Her grip on him tightened. "Now: Follow me, and count!" She ordered, pulling him forward without another word.

One. He shuffled his feet to follow her lead, his head bent to watch their feet.

Two. Ted shuffled in the wrong direction and jerked Andromeda with him. "Ted!" Andromeda cried. "Wrong direction." Her lips turned up in a smirk. "Follow me, let me pull you," she said gently. That phrase led to thoughts that made his head spin.

Keep breathing, you dolt, he mentally reminded himself.

Three. He did as she intoned, and for a moment he thought it was actually working until he felt her foot under his and he heard her hiss in pain. Ted closed his eyes as he felt his cheeks flair in embarrassment.

"Sorry!" He bit his lip and looked down at her as she began to pull him back into the slow, boxy dance she was attempting to teach him. "You're still moving," he stated stupidly. "Haven't you realized that this was a bad idea?"

She sighed and tsked at him, turning her face so she was looking him straight in the eyes. "You're not concentrating," she scrunched up her face and shook her head slightly. "Or rather, you're concentrating too much. Don't over think it, Teddy." She pulled him closer, removing her hand from his so she could place it lightly on his shoulder. Ted's heart began to pound and he found himself focusing again on how close they were, how much of their bodies were touching. "Breathe. Relax." She intoned in a soft voice. "Move."

Again, he thought, easier said than done.

"Dancing," she said as she began moving again, "is about feeling. It's about heart. It's something that just…. happens." He felt her breath on his neck. The top of her head was near his chin, her curly brown locks tickling him slightly. Her hair smelled fruity, like mangoes mixed with honey? Whatever the scent was, it made his head spin even further out of control.

"Mmmhmm," he murmured, unable to form proper words. His heart was doing a oddly paced tempo that would probably alarm muggle medical professionals and magical healers alike. He couldn't stop his brain from focusing on the strangest things, like the scent of Andromeda's hair and the feel of her hips brushing his.

He glanced down at her and his blue eyes caught her own. A slight gasp escaped her lips, then they curved into a smile. Ted's eyebrow quirked at her. "What?" he asked, his own lips widening into a smile as well.

She craned her neck and spoke close to his ear, sending shivers down his spine. "You're dancing, Ted Tonks."

A surprised laugh bubbled from his chest. "I suppose I am." He admitted happily. "You're dancing with me," he added quietly.

She twisted her head a bit so she was looking back at him; her eyes met his boldly. She stopped moving and he stilled as soon as she did, mesmerized by the look in her eyes.

Andromeda licked her lips and Ted's heart began to pound even faster than before.

"I was, yes."

Ted waited, not daring to make the move that his body was pleading him to make. Kissing her would change everything, more than this -whatever it was- was already doing. The dynamic between them had changed over the past three months of them studying together, but her teaching him to dance? That had taken things to a completely different level. Something was forming, fluttering around them both, waiting to be noticed. There was a line that neither of them had crossed yet -a line he desperately wanted to run past- and it seemed as if both of them were waiting on the other to cross it first.

Seconds ticked by and the tension around them grew. Ted's eyes flitted to hers, then to her lips. Her eyes mirrored his, their minds seemingly in sync.

They both crossed the line at the same moment; the minuscule distance between them vanished as their lips met in what was surely the first kiss of many. One of Ted's hands moved up from her waist to cup her cheek, then to twist into her hair. Her hands were wrapping around his neck one moment, only to quickly change course and explore his torso and back instead.

Their breathing became labored as their first kiss turned into a full on snogging session, neither of them taking a moment to care. The line had been crossed and there was no going back. The hand that Andromeda had placed on her waist earlier was now pulling the fabric of her shirt up and dipping under to hold her bare hip instead. His fingers dug into her waist and she gasped against his lips. She nipped at his lower lips in response, her own hands quickly following his lead. Smooth fingers soon began to play over his lower back and then forward to his abdomen. Ted bit back a groan and their kissing became even more fervent.

Had either one of them been in any right sort of mind, they would have noticed Amelia Bones, Benjy Fenwick, and Arthur Weasley all gaping at them from the open doorway. As it was, they were too wrapped up in their new found discovery of each other to notice much of anything besides one another. Until, that is, Benjy let out a low whistle, Art began to clap, and Amelia cackled, "You two are so busted."


End file.
